The stares bore into him, most of them wary and fearful, some curious, and some eying the creature now wrapped around his arm.

Emilio looked down at the culprit and saw it just lounging on his arm eyes closed as if it was sleeping without any worries.

He supposed it had no worries at all.

Why did these things keep happening to him?

Okay, he could not blame someone else this time. He did go forward this time. Despite knowing this could cause quite a bit of disturbance, not only in the Academy but also outside once letters started reaching students' homes, he could not bring himself to regret the actions he took on impulse. The weight on his hand was comfortable and he felt as if he had gained a friend.

He looked at the Professor.

“Professor Clyde, can I take it with me?” He asked softly.

For once, the Professor looked lost for words, the expression on his face was one of shock instead of the stern frown he wore all the time.

“Professor?” He called again when the man did not answer.

The man cleared his throat before shaking his head. “Ah, no, you cannot. A Leviathan is dangerous. This one is still young but as it grows, it will become dangerous. It will harm you.”

“It won’t,” he said softly. “It was perfectly capable of harming me now. But it did not. And Leviathans take a while to have a growth spurt. He will be on the smaller side for a few years yet.”

“He?” He heard a female voice beside him.

He turned his head to see the red haired girl looking at him with wide eyes. The question registered a moment late. He blinked his eyes and then looked down at the Leviathan for a moment. He then nodded, sure of himself.

“He.”

Emilio then turned towards the Professor. “So, can I take him?”

“No, you cannot.” The Professor seemed resolute. “Leviathans are terrible, dangerous creatures. I cannot, in good conscience, let a student take it with them. Especially a Laik who has no means of defending himself.

He opened his mouth to protest. But before he could, he felt the weight on the back of his palm lift and heard a loud hiss. He looked down to see the Leviathan baring his teeth threateningly at the Professor.

“Shut up before I rip your neck out, human. Don’t come near my Speaker.”

Emilio’s eyes widened at that and he had to hold back a laugh. He felt horrible for wanting to laugh. How come this thing he found just moments ago was so protective of him?

He reached out to rub the Leviathan’s head gently. “It’s alright. He’s only worried for me.”

“Tell him to mind his own damn business,” he hissed back at him.

“What is it saying?”

Emilio looked at the Professor and gave the milder version of what the Leviathan said. “Well, he is saying that he does not want to be separated from me.”

“What nonsense!” Professor Clyde growled and stomped forward. “Give it to me.”

The man reached forward toward the Leviathan in his arm, and Emilio could see his fingers start to glow. Fire mage. Fire was the opposite of water so fie could deal a substantial amount of damage to Leviathans. It was clear the man was preparing to subdue - or even kill - the Leviathan if need be.

Emilio quickly pulled back his hand and it wasn’t enough. The Leviathan unwrapped itself halfway from his arm and pulled back, and Emilio knew exactly what was about to happen.

He quickly brought up his other hand just as the Leviathan shot forward to strike, his palm ending up right between the fire soaked fingers of the Professor and the open mouth of the Leviathan. Both of them stopped just a few hairs’ breadth away from his hand. \

He hissed softly as the flames licked the back of his hand. But the next moment they were gone. The Professor had pulled back the moment he realized what had happened.

“Florian!” He called frantically. “Are you alright?”

Emilio looked at the Professor and nodded reassuringly. “I am alright, Professor.”

He then looked down at the Leviathan, who had now closed his mouth and turned his head to stare at him. He smiled down at him and gently stroked his head.

“It’s okay. See? He is just worried about me. I’m fine.”

The Leviathan stared at him for a moment before hissing. Emilio was pretty sure he tsk’ed at him.

“You’re the same,” he said, before wrapping around his arm once again, settling down lazily just like before.

Emilio could not ponder on that, because the stares and whispers around him were intensifying.

He looked at the Professor. “Sir, he won’t hurt me. But I can’t say that he will not hurt others. So, please, let me take him.”

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Professor Clyde looked at him for a long moment before sighing. “I should have listened to the Archmaster when he said you might surprise me.”

Emilio flushed at that. He supposed he did cause quite a few incidents since he’d come here. And he’d only been for a few days.

He remembered that he’d prayed for the rest of the day to pass uneventfully. Well, that went down the drain. Some higher power must really hate him.

“Sorry, Professor,” he mumbled softly.

He sighed and waved his hand in the air. He looked at the students. “What are you staring at? Get your asses to the Student Hall before I chase you out!”

The students looked hesitantly at each other.

“NOW!” The man roared.

They did not hesitate after that, quickly filing out. But they did keep throwing glances at him. Emilio sighed and was about to go out as well when the man pulled him back.

“Not you. You stay back.”

Emilio looked at the man, frowning in distrust, wondering if the man would try to take him to the Leviathan from him. But, to his surprise, the man just sighed in resignation before speaking.

“I am allowing you to take the Leviathan, mostly because I seem to have no other option at the moment. But you must be careful. And I’ll let the Archmaster know so that he can put some protection on you. Until then…” he reached into his overcoat again and then pulled out what seemed like a bracelet, it had a green gem in the middle, which glowed slightly in the sun as if it had green fire trapped in it. “This is Kohish Emerald from Verdanth. This one has been enchanted to shield you from magical and physical attacks. It’s not the best but it will last long enough for you to get to safety. Hold out your hand.”

Emilio sighed softly. He was conflicted between feeling upset that the man did not trust him and feeling happy that the man cared enough to protect him. After a moment, he sighed and held out his hand. The man wrapped the bracelet around his wrist and clasped it in place.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Now get going, you brat.” He smacked Emilio’s back, making the air knocked out of him. “And if you disrupt my class again, I will have you run a hundred laps around this field. Got it?”

“Yes, sir!”

Hiding his smile, he walked out of the class… well, into the building from the class outside. He felt inexplicably happy. He did not even move towards the Student Hall, knowing everyone there was just waiting for an opportunity to either stare at him or approach him. He had thought things would die down after he attended classes for a few days, but instead, all the bizarre things kept happening and he just wanted to avoid everyone.

Once again, he felt that animals were better than most humans.

Emilio decided to head back to the infirmary early. He was sure he could ask for some food there. If not, he could go to sleep without eating. It would not be the first time, honestly.

He hummed softly as he walked, bringing his arm up to examine the little thing on his arm. Like this, eyes closed and almost melting against Emilio’s skin, the Leviathan looked so very harmless. Emilio knew better. Even though it would not harm him, Emilio had a feeling that this was one of the most dangerous creatures he would ever meet.

Still, though, he was not afraid. In fact, he felt strangely elated, as if … as if he had found an old friend.

“What should I call you?” He whispered softly. What would be a good name for a Leviathan?

“Travis?”

The Leviathan hissed in displeasure.

“Malik?”

Hiss.

“Hm… Florian?”

A longer hiss.

“Hey! That’s my name too, you know!”

Silence.

“Hmph! Fine. Cal!”

Hiss.

“Davis.”

Hiss.

“Kaza!”

Hiss

“Thayne.”

At this point, he was just randomly spitting out names from the ones he had ever known or even vaguely heard.

He heard another hiss and then the Leviathan actually spoke.

“Stop messing around.”

Emilio sighed softly. “Fineeee. What about … “ He cast his mind around for a name and then finally settled on, “Sal.”

The Leviathan opened his eyes and turned his head to stare at him for a moment, before turning back around into his previous position and settling down again.

“Passable.”

“Sal, it is, then!”

He grinned and made his way to the Hub.

When he finally reached the building, he saw Archmaster Loren and Balsea standing at the entrance, the fae glaring at the unbothered Archmaster.

“What are you guys doing?”

They turned to him and chorused, “Emilio!”

Archmaster Loren walked forward, curiously eying the Leviathan. “Well, I got the news that you got a new pet.”

“He’s not a pet,” he said immediately. “He is my friend.”

Emilio looked towards Balsea. “You found out too? This fast?”

Balsea shook their head. “No. I did not see you in the Student Hall so I figured you were here. I came here to see this shudhni coming as well.”

Emilio was pretty sure Balsea called the Archmaster a bastard. He pursed his lips to hide a smile and then looked at the man.

“Are you here to see me ‘bloom’ again?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not quite.” The man chuckled. “While I love seeing your powers unravel, I am here to ensure your safety right now. Let’s go in, shall we?”

Balsea scoffed. “Safety, kerr phasha,” they mumbled a long string of incomprehensible curses after that.

Emilio sighed softly and patted the fae’s arm. “It’s alright.”

He did not wish to be in the Arcmahster’s presence right now but he had to admit, the Archmaster never allowed him to be hurt. He would just spend a few minutes sitting still while the man applied whatever shields he wanted. He did not want to be separated from Sal, no matter what.

He nodded at the Archmaster and walked past the two into the building. He went up the stairs, heading towards the room where he had been before.

As he approached the room, he heard the sound of familiar footsteps thudding against the floor as a figure almost blurred toward him. He braced himself on instinct as he extended his free hand to hold the little figure that soon tackled him with considerable force, small arms wrapped around his waist.

“Brother!”